Innocent Corruption
by Iliya Moroumetz
Summary: Version 2.0 Final At the end of Ocarina of Time, Ganon has been defeated and all is well... or is it?


Innocent Corruption 

Breathing heavily, the young man who wielded the Master Sword rested upon his weapon and felt relieved that the battle was over.

He had traversed through many dungeons, seven years back and forth through time, and a horrid mockery of his home, to come to this end.

Now, the evil was defeated and the hero was confused as to what to do next.

He felt a hand reach upon his shoulder and he turned to see Princess Zelda, now older since he last saw her as a child. She appeared quite tired and with an exhausted smile on her face.

"We did it," he whispered.

She nodded, "Yes... it's over. Ganondorf has been banished forever and now all this horror can be overcome." Her hair was frazzled, her dress was dirtied and torn, her right arm and hand were also bandaged, and several small cuts lined her head and arms. Though she too was smiling, her look quickly became downcast and forlorn, "Yet, I cannot help but feel this is all my fault."

"What do you mean?"

"It was my insistence that lead you to open the gates of time and to the Sacred Realm. So, it is my fault that Ganondorf was able to acquire the Triforce of Power."

"But you did the best you could."

"Besides," chirped a small voice that emerged from the small light that flew out from Link's hat, "no one's perfect."

She smiled sadly, "Yes, but just think of how many innocent people died because of my actions. All because of the greed of one man."

Link nor his fairy companion could say nothing to that.

"You know, Link. It was fortunate that the Triforce got divided into three pieces instead of one. Because when only one has it all, there's no telling what sort of nightmare could happen," she sighed again and leaned against him.

Almost on impulse, Link wrapped his arms around the exhausted princess and allowed her a moment of comfortable silence before she continued. "I envy you, Link. Did you know that?"

Surprised, he answered, "really? Why?"

She brought her face back from his shoulder and smiled, "Because, when you were put to sleep for all those years, you retained your innocence and naiveté. It made you immune to the temptation that drove Ganondorf to acquire the Triforce of Power."

"But what about you? If you had them, you'd definitely do a lot of good things with its power."

The sadness in Zelda's face grew as she started to chuckle. "You flatter me too much, Link. I'm just as vulnerable as anyone else. You see..." she took his right hand, found the glowing triangle and started to circle it with her left index finger, "I too know what it's like to desire all the Triforce. And because of your loyalty you would give me the Triforce of Courage..."

Navi started to shake at the growing malignancy in her voice. What frightened her more was that the princess seemed to change into someone else.

The smile on Zelda's face started to grow dark, "...and in the place of an evil king, you'd place upon this world an empress of the shadow. Yet, I would not be the nightmare that Ganondorf was... no..."

The anxiety in Link's eyes grew when he saw the light of the Triforce reflecting off of the princess' eyes. In those eyes, madness started to swirl. "Men and women would live or die at my will, I would have the strength of time itself, entire worlds would venerate me as a goddess, and my reign would be unquestioned and absolute!"

Try as he would to pull away, whatever madness had possessed Zelda gave her the strength to hold onto his hand in a vice-like grip. "All who worship me shall love and fear me! All who defy me shall perish! All would be mine!"

"Link!" Navi cried and dashed towards the princess, only to be held in place by an invisible force shield. Navi knew that most people had moments of weakness, yet never before had she seen one turn into madness such as this.

Finally, he yanked his hand free, and at that same instant, the madness had left princess, Navi could move again, and Zelda collapsed to the ground. Sweat drenched her form and her eyes were filled with fear. "Oh Link... I'm so sorry. I... I couldn't control myself."

Zelda pushed herself to her feet and with a look of self-loathing, said, "that is why I must send you back and close the gates of time now. You must also go away. Far away. Until I can control its power. I would not know how much longer I could hold myself back from trying to take it from you by force if you did not leave."

Link asked worriedly, "Is there any chance that you can beat this?"

The princess shook her head, "I don't know."

To her surprise, Link said with the same smile he had when they had first met, "You can beat it. I know you can."

Now it was her turn to smile, "Thank you, Link." She extended her hand, "May I have the Ocarina back?"

"Oh yeah, sure." He reached into his pack and pulled out the small woodwind instrument and placed it in her hand.

"We may never meet again, Link. I will not know what you have done when you return to the past. However, let it be known that I was glad to know you."

The Hero of Time replied happily, "me too."

"Oh!" Navi piped suddenly, "Thanks for all the help, your highness." In spite of the princess' words, the fairy could not help but wonder silently what would happen after they had returned to the past. Could Zelda still be trusted back then? Even now, could she still be trusted? All the fairy could do was hope for the best.

Zelda smiled back to the little light with wings, "Think nothing of it, Navi. And Link, farewell and be careful."

She brought the ocarina to her lips and began to play the notes, which had sent Link to the future. Within seconds, a pillar of light gathered around Link and Navi. The pillar soon took both of them into the sky and into the past.

When she was certain that they were gone, the smile on her face dissolved and she mumbled tiredly, "enough of this farce."

In an instant, the clear blue sky, which had surrounded her, vanished and reverted to the desolate waste that was the remnants of Ganondorf's castle. In the center of the ruins, the king of the Gerudo lay on the ground, bound by glowing chains with his arms forced to stretch forth from his body.

Though Link had indeed defeated Ganondorf at his most powerful, Zelda had no intention of banishing him to the Dark Realm, where the stuff of nightmares waited for such wayward souls.

At least, not yet.

Instead of using the power of the Sages to banish him, she had altered the spell to bind him temporarily to this world. Now only one thing remained before the rest of the spell would take effect.

Kneeling beside Ganondorf, she allowed him to look at her passive and unemotional face.

"I cannot help but wonder what it was like for you, a master of arcane magics and forbidden lore. Losing to a boy, stuck in a man's body."

Ganondorf frowned, "It doesn't matter what you think, Princess. Once I get out of these chains, I'm going to wring that delicate little neck of yours until your head has popped off!"

Zelda remained unfazed by his threat. Even with the Triforce of Power being an integral part of him and, in essence, a part of all three of them, he had no clue as to what would happen next. "If it brings you peace to say such things, Dragmire, by all means, continue."

She stood up and walked several paces behind the chained Ganondorf and all he could hear was her footsteps and the sound of stone rubble being moved apart. The sound of metal being pulled from the stone was unmistakable.

His apprehension only grew when he found that hefted over her shoulder, Zelda carried Link's abandoned Goron Sword as if it were a big toy. As frightening as the size of that massive sword was, the casual look on her face made him all the more unsettled.

"Don't you dare, Harkinian!"

Zelda raised an eyebrow in surprise, the first movement her unmasked personality had shown, "Considering how you are chained and bound, making such threats is rather pointless."

She held the giant sword in both of her hands and said calmly, as if admiring its make, "I find it amazing that the Gorons were capable of constructing such a durable sword. Most others would have surely cracked under the strain. What makes it all the more amazing is how easily it can pierce armor and cut skin, sinew, and bone. Simply remarkable, do you not think?"

Ganondorf's scream of defiance fell upon deaf ears as she raised the weapon high and with one stroke, severed his right hand in the middle of the forearm. Zelda casually dismissed his silent agony as she placed the giant sword away, took the dismembered hand from the ground, and observed the glowing piece of the Triforce held within.

Placing her hand on the back of the bodiless hand, she began to utter in a tongue more ancient than any civilization that the Gerudo man had ever known. Yet, from his time in wielding the Triforce of Power, he had an idea just what she was saying. She was speaking in the same language the three goddesses used.

To his subsequent horror, he saw the Triforce of Power flow from his severed hand and into hers. The princess gasped suddenly at the great influx of power and reveled in her new supremacy. A sphere of light gathered around her body and covered her from his sight. Before he could attempt anything, the sphere exploded, leaving only Zelda, immaculate and unscathed.

Even when she had acquired her own piece of the Triforce, it was nothing compared to now. With another piece under her control, she felt as if she were now a part of the cosmos, infinite and without frontiers. How unusual it felt to know that her perception of time, space, and existence as a mere princess was so severely limited.

When the pain became more bearable, he whispered, "Treacherous little bitch."

When Zelda opened her eyes at his words, he could tell that she was now no different that the wicked-minded little girl he had seen all those years ago. The same child that stumbled onto his plans of double crossing the king. To his surprise, she had come to him with the idea of opening the Sacred Realm where they would divide the Triforce.

Though he had planned on grabbing all the Triforce for himself, Zelda had taken her piece and fled during the intervening years. She had been hiding, planning, waiting for Link to return. She knew the boy would have the ability to defeat him.

Ganondorf could not help but wonder what few choice words could perfectly describe this manipulative woman with the face of a saint. Ambitious was one, for she knew what she strove for. Cruel was a definite choice, for very few could do some of the things she did.

The Princess knelt before him and said with a voice that reflected the cold stare she wore, "It is indeed ironic. You were more than capable of taking the Triforce for yourself, Dragmire. However, I can safely say that your greed and lust for power proved to be a greater hindrance than you thought. So single minded in obtaining that which you thought was yours was taken from you right out of your hand. How pitiful."

Now it was Ganondorf's turn to question, "and what of the boy?"

"His faith in what was right. Just as your greed made you ignorant of contingency, Link's faith made him blind to treachery. And with you both indisposed, I am the only remaining victor."

The gerudo man frowned, "so then, which side are you on, really?"

Zelda was apathetic, "Neither. Distinctions such as 'good' and 'evil' do not concern me anymore."

"Neither do emotions, apparently."

"Though you are correct, necromancer, it is irrelevant."

With his dismembered hand still in hers, the princess let the body part go casually and watched it fly into the vortex.

Ganondorf wanted to scream that she would not get away with this. Yet, he knew that she had orchestrated this whole war and now she was merely tying up the loose ends. Now, the greater irony was that Link was the only hope Hyrule had from this mad woman.

As though she can caught onto the last thought, Zelda said, "You need not worry about Link. I was more than certain he would eventually discover my plans and try to stop me."

She folded her arms and gave the slightest indication of a smile, "However, thanks to my gift of prophecy, I knew he would return to me after this whole ordeal."

Ganondorf's eyes widened in shock, "You killed him?!"

Zelda replied dispassionately, "Not directly. I could never stand up against his strength. So, I created a slow acting, yet powerful disease to circumvent his natural defenses. Oh, he could have found a way to cure himself of the disease, I would have preferred that, in fact. However, his choice to search for his friend had resulted in a few years of sickness and his inevitable death."

"Well, it looks like you lost as much as I did. He took the Triforce with him to the grave."

The same slight smile Zelda had before returned, "I would not be so quick to say such things."

She removed the bandages on her right hand and revealed all three Triforce glowing from the back of her palm.

"For his last act of loyalty to Hyrule, he gave his piece to me during the intervening years. So, in your parlance, I win."

Ganondorf frowned, "Obviously the boy didn't have the wit to see through your ruse."

His captor looked almost sad at the thought of her having killed Link, yet, not enough to convince Ganondorf that she was sincere.

"It is regrettable that he was in my way. He would have been a most valuable slave. However, that is no longer relevant since he is dead. Now that I have all of the Triforce, you are no longer needed."

She raised her hand and in that same divine language, commanded the chains to vanish and a portal to appear behind him. The vortex opened its maw wider and a wind began to pull its query inside. With his only hand, Ganondorf struggled to prevent his permanent exile as he held onto a sturdy pillar, yet as drained as he was from the previous battle, he found his grip slipping.

"With your last moment in this world, know that you gaze upon divinity." Zelda proclaimed with a calm that angered the Gerudo king even more so than before as the last of his hand started to slip from the pillar.

At last, Ganondorf's grip had failed and he tumbled into the gateway to the Dark Realm, with its only entrance closing immediately. The curses of revenge did not get past the non-existent entrance as the Gerudo man fell into eternity.

With a sigh of exhaustion, Zelda took a moment to take a seat on one of the few pillar pieces large enough to act as a seat. The whole world and beyond was now hers for the taking. Any and all opposition could be crushed with but a wave of her now omnipotent hand. Time and space could be warped to her twisted heart's content. Yet, she still felt empty, now that she had everything.

For a second, Zelda considered the old saying 'Perhaps it is the path and not the goal that matters' as a viable reason for her feeling. Yet, she shrugged it off, remembering she was still relatively new to the status of divinity. After all, what she could do was only limited by her imagination.

End

All things related to the Legend of Zelda belong to Nintendo.


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